MasterCard has struck a deal with Blue Label Telecoms to bring point-of-sale devices to 22,000 small traders and rural shops across South Africa.
Blue Label already provides POS terminals to South African retailers but they are are used predominantly to sell pre-paid vouchers for things such as mobile phone airtime and electricity.
The MasterCard deal will see 15,000 new EMV-certified terminals rolled out to traders, enabling them for the first time to accept chip and PIN and contactless payment cards.
Another 7000 existing terminals will be upgraded using MasterCard Mobile software, enalbing cardholders to use their PIN-based debit, cheque or credit card issued by Standard Bank, Absa, Nedbank or the South African Social Security Agency and their mobile phone to pay for their purchases in-store.
Philip Panaino, division president, MasterCard, South Africa, says: "This is the first time MasterCard Mobile is made available to consumers in the physical retail environment. This innovation is a cost-effective payment mechanism that doesn't require customers to open another bank account."